This Is Our Life
by Moonlit.Forest.Night
Summary: What if Claire and Luke had both been able to stay? What would happen? A series of oneshots about if that had happened. Claire/Hershel and Luke/Flora, also including Emmy now! Kinda AU. First two chapters are short but are necessary, they get longer after that. Update times will vary, but will most likely be slow for the most part, sorry!
1. Claire Gets To Stay

**So this is my attempt at a Professor Layton Fan Fic. Once again, spoilers ahead. Don't say I didn't warn you. My motivation was the fact that the ending of the Unwound Future is incredibly sad, and isn't the main character supposed to get a happy ending? So enjoy the story, and remember, reviews are like gold to an author ;). And to any One Decision readers that may be reading this, I have started writing again but it's very slow and I don't know when I will update.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Professor Layton or any of the other characters or components of the games that you will see in this story.**

**This chapter starts right after Claire turns and walks down the alley after she says good-bye. So enjoy!**

Claire's Point of View

Fate could be so cruel.

I walked down the alley knowing that any second now I would be transported back to the past. Where I would meet my doom.

As I walked all the memories of my times with Hershel flashed through my mind. He was definitely the one for me.

I guess I just wasn't the one for him.

I didn't want it to end this way. Not with so many loose ends to tie up. Not just after I found Hershel again.

But it was inevitable, I had to go.

"Claire! Please, wait a moment," I heard Hershel yell.

I hesitated a second, but when I was sure that I had a couple moments I turned to face him. "I'm listening," I told him.

"Claire, I just, I just love you so much, and if you have to leave, then…" He trailed off.

"Then I want to stay with you until the very end." He said, tears in his eyes

I wrapped my arms around him. "I love you," I told him, fully prepared for the fact that these may be my last words.

"I love you too." He said returning the hug. "I'll never find anyone as perfect for me as you."

I felt my heart soar at these words; I guess I really was the one for him. Too bad our ending wasn't going to be a happy one.

But then I felt a warm feeling surround me. It disappeared as soon as it appeared. I looked down and was shocked at what I saw.

The pale glow that had surrounded me, as I got closer to going back to the past, had disappeared. I could stay.

"Hershel, look." I said, pulling out of his embrace.

He looked at me, taking in the lack of pale glow and my smiling face. "You get to stay," He breathed.

"It sure looks that way," I replied.

He took my face in his hands, then leaned in and kissed me. It was wonderful knowing that I could stay.

That I could get my happily ever after with the man I love.


	2. Luke Gets To Stay

**Yes, two chapters in one day. I know, its exciting xD. Anyway, this is the first time I've ever done third person point of view in a fan fic, so tell me if it worked out all right please. Its also the first time I've changed the point of view, so please tell me how that worked as well, I'd really appreciate it ;). Anyway, enjoy. Oh, and just so you know, none of these are actually in chronological order, unless I say so, though all of them take place after the Unwound Future.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Professor Layton or any of the other characters or components of the games that you will see in this story.**

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Third Person Point of View

It was a perfectly normal day for Professor Layton and his apprentice Luke. They were walking down a pathway in the park puzzling each other, trying to see who could win the most picarats.

There was however, one thing that was off in this perfectly normal scenario.

It was the atmosphere. Instead of it being a perfectly happy or content one, it was a sad one. Luke was moving. In a months time he would be heading overseas. Something he definitely did not want to do.

But little did they know, it was all about to change.

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Professor Layton's Point of View

It was the end of the day and, as much as I hated the idea of it, the end of one of my last days with Luke.

As I took Luke up to his apartment I couldn't help but notice his glum mood, and I knew that he wished he could stay.

I wished he could too.

When we got to his door, his father opened it before Luke could even lift his hand.

"Luke my boy, head on over to the kitchen and help your mother finish dinner please." Clark said to Luke.

"Yes father, bye Professor." Luke said, still looking and sounding glum.

"Good-bye Luke," I said to him as he went inside. I turned to Clark. "Was there anything in particular you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked him.

"Well," Clark started to say. "Its about Luke. And I'm not going to push you into anything you don't want to do, but I was wondering if he could stay with you instead of coming with us."

"What brought on this change of heart?" I asked him.

"The fact that he has been so miserable since we told him we were moving. I know that he would much rather stay here and I'm fine with that, but you're the only person I can trust enough to leave him with. So what do you say? Remember, I'm not pushing you to do anything you don't want to do."

I thought about it, if he stayed with me he wouldn't have to leave. He would be happy, I would be happy, Flora would be happy, everyone would be happy.

And if he left he would be miserable, I would loose my apprentice and Flora too would be unhappy. My decision was made.

"I would be delighted to have him stay with me while you and Brenda move overseas." I told Clark.

"Thank you so much," He said. "Luke! Come over here!" He called over his shoulder.

"Yes father," Luke said, appearing behind him.

"We've got some good news for you," Clark told him, then turned toward me.

"If you wish, you can stay here with me while your parents move overseas." I told him.

Luke looked like Christmas had come early, "Really?" He asked.

His father chuckled. "Yes, really," He told Luke.

"Thank you father, thank you Professor," Luke half yelled as he hugged us both

I laughed. "Well I better be off," I told them.

"Of course, thanks again." Clark replied.

"Yeah, thanks Professor," Luke piped up.

"Its no big deal, see you soon." I told them before walking off.

This was one of the best weeks of my life. First Claire returned came back and is here to stay. And now Luke doesn't have to move. We could all be together like a family.

And I couldn't be happier.

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**Yeah I know, my endings are a little cheesey, but that comes from watching too many cheesey movies in geography (my teacher is souseless, its amazing sometimes :P). So anyway, I hope you liked it, but I will never know unless you review ;). So I most lkely won't be updating until the new year, so merry christmas and happy new year/ happy holidays. And I will see you in the new year.**


	3. The First Christmas

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! So this is my incredibly late Christmas one shot, and though it's probably total crap I hope you enjoy it anyway =)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Professor Layton or any of the other characters or components of the games that you will see in this story.**

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Claire's Point of View (In the third person)

Christmas was in the air.

Claire had always loved Christmas. She loved seeing all the decorations and the lights. She loved the feeling of joy in the air and seeing all the children playing in the snow thoroughly enjoying themselves. Christmas was extra special this year, as it was the first Christmas she would be spending with Hershel, Luke and Flora.

Another thing she always enjoyed, though she always had trouble with it, was purchasing gifts for the people.

She walked down the street, looking down at the windows of different shops wondering what she would get for Hershel.

Luke and Flora had been simple. For Luke she had gotten a couple of books that were filled with puzzles to solve as you read them. And for Flora she had gotten a matching sketchbook and journal set in a lovely coral colour.

But she didn't have a sweet clue as to what she would get Hershel. She had spent hours in looking in numerous different shops and racking her brains trying to figure out the answer to this puzzle. But no matter how hard she tried the answer always eluded her.

Eventually she sat down on a nearby bench so she could think for a while. Luke and Flora had been simple because she got them stuff that they would definitely love and use, and she now knew them like they were her own kids.

Hershel on the other hand was a different story. This gift, she wanted to come from her heart. She didn't want it to be a gift that anyone could give him; she wanted it to be special. And this meant that it couldn't have anything to do with puzzles, or tea for that matter.

Although she had a sneaking suspicion that once Luke had read the books he would be borrowing them.

She heaved a sigh, it was nearly the end of the day and she had nothing for Hershel. Looking around she spotted a small curio stand, she shrugged and got up to walk over there and take a look.

The first thing she noticed when she got there was that every single item was unique, and that you couldn't find anything like these elsewhere. She also noticed that if you wished you can have an item engraved, she figured this may be a good idea of something to get for Hershel if she found an item that worked.

After looking around at what the stand had for a while though she started to get frustrated. Nothing there was right; none of it was what she was looking for. She was about to give up and walk away from the stand when a particular item caught her eye.

It was a simple little wooden doll, much like the ones that she had played with as a small child. But this one was special; it was wearing a top hat, much like the one that Hershel wore. She picked it up and took it to the man running the stand.

"Would I be able to engrave a message on the back of this doll?" She asked him.

"Of course," He replied. "What do you want written on it?" He asked her.

She paused to think about this, once again the message she chose had to be perfect. She racked her brains trying to figure out what she would write on this doll. After a few moments she had come up with the perfect message. Smiling she told it to the man and he engraved it on the back of the doll. She paid for the doll and smiling she headed home.

* * *

Claire woke up Christmas morning to Flora coming into her room and jumping on her bed.

"Claire, Claire, Claire! Get up, get up, get up!" Flora cried, shaking her. Claire decided to play with her by rolling over and pulling the blanket over her head.

"Oh, come on Claire," Flora said. "It's Christmas morning." At this point Claire suddenly sprung up, tackled Flora and started to tickle her.

"Alright, alright, I surrender," Flora gasped out.

Claire grinned. She got up, pulling Flora up with her. "Well then, let's head downstairs. I suppose Luke is getting Hershel up?" She asked.

"Of course," Flora chimed, before grabbing her wrist and dragging her downstairs. When they got there the Professor and Luke were already there, evidently the Professor had come quietly.

"About time," Luke said, grinning.

"Well sorry, Claire decided to pretend to continue sleeping and then suddenly she attacked me," Flora told him. Luke roared with laughter.

"Is this true?" The professor asked.

"Yep, and I will say, it was incredibly fun." She replied. Flora stuck her tongue out her and she just laughed.

"Well at least I came quietly, apparently unlike you," He grinned in reply.

"Oh hush up," She said. "Now who wants to open presents?" She asked, putting on an excited tone.

"Yeah!" Luke and Flora cried in unison and raced to sit by the tree. Claire and Hershel chuckled and linking hands, walked over to join them.

Hershel reached under the tree first and pulled out two gifts, which he then preceded to hand to Luke and Flora. They tore them open. For Flora he had gotten a lovely set of pencils and coloured pencils that she could use to draw and sketch. And for Luke he had gotten a set of puzzle books with a special pencil that attached to the books that he could use to work on them with.

"Our turn," Luke said, glancing at Flora. He got up and walked over to the tree, he bent down and picked up a gift which he turned and handed to Hershel. He opened it and Claire had to stifle a laugh. So much for him borrowing the books from Luke, he and Flora had pooled their money to buy him the same two books. Hershel looked at them with excitement.

"Okay," Claire said. "Now it's my turn." She went up to the tree and picked up her gifts for Luke and Flora, she then handed them to them. They tore them open and started to laugh.

"Did you co-ordinate with the Professor for my gift?" Flora asked, when she came to a long enough pause in her laughter.

"Believe it, or not, no we didn't," Claire said, while also trying to stifle her laughter.

"And I'm going to guess that you didn't co-ordinate with Luke at all, because otherwise we wouldn't of gotten the same gift," Hershel said also laughing.

"That would be correct," Claire said. "But enough of that I have one more gift to give." With that she got up and picked up the gift for Hershel and handed it to him. "A notebook set for Flora, puzzle books for Luke, and..." She trailed off, motioning for Hershel to open his present.

He opened it, and inspected the doll, turning it over he saw the inscription on the back. "A doll with a top hat for my perfect English gentleman, I love you." He read out loud. He looked up at Claire, "I love you too," He said to her. He then leaned over and kissed her.

"Oh come on, gross," They heard Luke and Flora groan. They pulled apart from each other and looked over at them to see them covering their eyes. Laughing they told them that it was safe to uncover their eyes.

"Now that we're past this silliness," Hershel said; a mischievous look in his eye as he glanced at Luke and Flora who laughed. "There is one more gift we have to give." He got up and walked over to the tree and pulled out a small box. "This is from all three of us," He said as he handed it to Claire.

She opened it to reveal a small jewellery box. She opened it to reveal a golden heart shaped locket. "It's beautiful," She told them.

"Well open it," Hershel told her.

She did as he told her to, and discovered that there was a picture of the three of them with an inscription on the other side. "It is not flesh and blood but the heart that makes us family." She looked up at the others, "It's perfect, thank you." She got up and hugged the others, who all hugged her back.

After this everyone thank each other and then sat down with their new gifts. Flora had taken out her new pencils and was drawing in her new sketchbook, and Luke was already reading one of his new books. Meanwhile Hershel walked up to Claire, and picked up the locket which he then placed around her neck. She smiled up at him and he placed a kiss on her forehead. After that he picked up the doll she had given him and placed it on the mantel above the fire place, she smiled at him. Smiling back he sat down with one of the books and began to read.

Claire fingered her new locket as she thought about the events that had taken place. She was glad that the others loved the gifts that she had bought them, and she loved the locket they had gotten her.

This first Christmas with her family had been perfect, and she couldn't be gladder about that.

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**Wow, this chapter turned out to be a lot longer than I originally expected, but I'm quite pleased with it. And by the way the quote is based on one by Johann Schiller. So anyway, I hope you enjoyed that but I won't know unless you review ;). And once again to One Decision readers, I only have one scene left to write in the latest chapter but I'm having trouble trying to figure out how to write it, so I don't know when it will be updated, sorry!**


	4. Of Love and Awkwardness

**Sorry I took this long to update, but my life has been crazy lately so I haven't really had that much time to write. As it is I really shouldn't be writing this right now as I should be studying for exams, but I needed to relax, and this is what came to mind. So anyway I hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Professor Layton or any of its characters, places, puzzles or mysteries**

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Third Person Point of View

It was a normal morning in the Layton household; Claire and the Professor were already up and preparing breakfast, and Luke and Flora were still asleep in their rooms.

Soon after, the breakfast was ready, and the Professor asked Claire to go wake the children while he put everything out. She agreed and went upstairs to the children's rooms.

She first paused at Luke's room, knocking lightly on the door to see if she got a response from him. When she didn't, she entered his room to see him still asleep. Chuckling, she walked over to him and shook him gently. "Luke, it's time to get up," She said to him.

"No, five more minutes," Luke moaned, rolling over.

Claire smiled, "Well I'm just going to convince you now, am I?" She told him, and then started to tickle him.

"No! Mercy, mercy! Fine, I'll get up already!" Luke shrieked between laughter. Claire stood up, and smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Good idea, now chop, chop, breakfast is ready," She told him. And with that, she left the room, shutting the door behind her. Shaking her head, she moved on to Flora's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in," She heard Flora say from inside the room. Opening the door, Claire entered the room.

"Hey sweetie, breakfast is ready, are you ready to come down?" Claire asked Flora, who was currently sitting on the window sill, staring out the window.

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute," Flora said, without turning around.

"Hey now," Claire said as she sat down beside her. "What's wrong? You seem a little off."

Flora sighed, "It's nothing, really it isn't. There isn't any need for you to worry, trust me."

"Oh come on Flora, you can tell me anything. You know that right?"

"I know that, it's just... I don't know." Flora said, looking down at her lap.

Claire frowned; she was getting some weird vibes from Flora. "You trust me, don't you?"

"I do, trust me, I do. But... oh, I don't know." Flora put her head in her hands, seeming a bit flustered.

"Well, when you're ready to talk, you know where to find me," Claire said as she began to stand up.

"It's about Luke," Flora finally blurted out.

"Oh," Claire said, sitting down again. "And what about Luke are you talking about?"

Flora sighed. "Every time I think he's finally going to ask me out, he just doesn't. I mean, I don't know what to do, I really do like him. Got any advice I could use?"

Claire smiled; this problem sent her back to when she and Hershel had first started dating. "Who says the guy has to make the first move? If I were you; I'd ask him out myself, why don't you ask him to accompany you to the park this afternoon? Maybe you can finally tell him how you feel."

"That's actually a great idea, thanks Claire," Flora said, visibly perking up.

"You're welcome, now come on, like I said earlier, breakfast is ready."

As they left the room and headed downstairs, Claire noticed that Luke's door was still closed. She stopped Flora in the hall.

"I'm going to tell him to hurry up and head downstairs, but why don't you wait here and when he gets out, ask him to go to the park with you this afternoon," Claire suggested to Flora. Flora nodded and walked over to the piece of wall beside his door to wait.

Claire walked up to Luke's door and knocked sharply on the door, "Luke! Hurry up, breakfast is getting cold."

"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying!" They heard Luke yell. Claire laughed, and with a wink to Flora, went downstairs.

Flora took a deep breath as she waited for Luke. "Come on Flora, it's just Luke, you've known each other for ages, this shouldn't be this hard," She thought to herself. Finally she heard the door open.

"Flora!" Luke sounded surprised. "You know you didn't have to wait for me, you could have gone downstairs with Claire." Flora smiled at what he said; he was always quite the gentleman.

"Actually, I wanted to wait. I have something to ask you," Flora took another deep breath. "Would you like to accompany me to the park this afternoon?"

Luke smiled, "Of course I would, there's nothing else I'd rather do. But for now we better head downstairs for breakfast before we get in trouble for taking so long." Flora smiled and nodded, heading for the stairs with Luke right behind her.

* * *

Meanwhile the Professor had everything set up and was sitting down waiting for Claire and the kids to come join him. He looked up when he heard footsteps and was a bit surprised to see only Claire walk into the kitchen. "Where are Luke and Flora?" He asked her, curiously.

"Luke still wasn't ready, Flora is waiting for him," She replied. But with her tone of voice and the expression on her face, he could tell there was more to it than just Luke not being ready.

"What's really going on?" He asked her with an all knowing smile.

Claire sighed, "Nothing gets past you, does it? If you must know, Flora is planning on asking Luke to accompany her to the park this afternoon."

"So she finally got tired of waiting for Luke to ask her, huh?"

"Pretty much. Now shush, I hear them coming," She told him with a smirk. He just chuckled and went back to his tea.

Luke and Flora entered the kitchen and sat down. "Sorry we took so long," they said in unison. It was obvious by the look on their faces that this was rehearsed. Claire had to take advantage of the opportunity given to her.

"Gee, that doesn't sound rehearsed at all. What do you think Hershel?" She said with a smirk on her face.

"Oh I don't know, it was very convincing," He said, playing along.

"Okay, we get it already. Now, what is it you want to know?" Flora said, sounding exasperated. Luke meanwhile just sat there with a very awkward expression on his face.

"The answer," Claire said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Come on Flora, you can't possibly be that dense."

"I'm not; I was just living in hope that you would ask something else. And if you must know, he said yes."

Claire squealed and hugged Flora. "See, now was that that hard?"

"No, not really actually."

"I'm sorry; but can we get off this topic before it becomes anymore awkward and embarrassing for me?" Luke asked.

"I must say, I have to agree with Luke on this one," The Professor said, also looking a little awkward.

"Alright fine, we'll stop. Now, let's eat shall we?" Claire said, chuckling.

The next little while was silent, except for the clinking of silverware or sloshing of drinks as they were poured. Finally the Professor broke the silence.

"So what are you two kids up to today?" He asked.

"Well we're going to spend the day at the park, but we'll be home in time to make dinner," Luke replied.

"And don't fear, I'll merely be assisting him," Flora said, knowing that everyone feared her cooking.

"Good to know," The Professor said with a smirk.

"Oh ha ha," Flora said. Then she smiled mischievously, "What will you two be up to this afternoon?"

"Well, I have a bunch of tests that I need to grade, and I was kind of hoping that Claire may like to help me with them." The Professor answered with a hopeful look to Claire.

"Of course I'll help. I have nothing else I need to do today anyway," Claire said with a shrug.

A little while later, the four had finished breakfast and had cleaned up the remains. Claire was at the sink, finishing the dishes, when Flora came up to her.

"Luke and I are heading out. Got anymore last second advice that might be useful to know?" She asked.

"Just be yourself, and don't be afraid to tell him how you feel." Claire told her. "I'm serious when I say that it's as simple as that."

"Thank you," Flora said, and hugged her. "Like Luke said earlier, we'll be home on time to have dinner on the table."

"Alright, have fun, and stay safe," Claire told her with a suggestive tone.

"Claire!" Flora cried, hitting her with a nearby towel.

"Alright, I'll stop. But seriously have fun, and don't be afraid to tell him how you feel."

"Okay, I'll see you later," Flora said and left.

Claire smiled as she went back to finishing the dishes. It was nice to see such young love sometimes.

Presently she finished the dishes and went up to Hershel's office to help him finish marking tests.

"Oh my," She said as she entered his office and saw stacks upon stacks of tests that needed to be marked. Hershel smiled sheepishly.

"I guess it's pretty obvious now why I wanted some help. As you can see, I've been putting this off for a while."

"Tsk Tsk Hershel," Claire said in a teasing tone. "I thought true gentlemen never put anything off."

Hershel sighed, "They're not supposed to, I guess I broke that rule though."

"You sure did." Claire sighed, "Well tell me what I can do and let's get started then. The sooner we start, the sooner we can finish."

Hershel smiled and handed her a bunch of stacks and then some answer keys. "These are the fill in the blank, true or false, and multiple choice, along with the answer keys, you can work on these, while I mark the essays."

"Alright," Claire said, accepting the stacks and answer keys. She then swiped a red pen from his pencil case, settled down, and began to work.

* * *

Meanwhile Luke and Flora had just arrived at the park and were walking down towards the water to sit on the rocky ledge.

Flora sighed happily as she looked out over the water. She found this very nice, just sitting there with Luke, not having to care about anything. But she knew that now was the perfect time to take Claire's advice and tell Luke how she felt about him. "Luke," She said to gain his attention.

"Yes Flora."

"Do you like me?"

"Of course I like you Flora, you're my best friend. And don't forget the fact that we live together," Was Luke's reply.

Flora sighed frustrated. "That's not exactly what I meant. I meant; do you like me, like me?"

"Oh. Umm, well," Luke started, and then paused.

"You know what, let's just forget I ever said that," Flora said flustered. She was completely embarrassed. "How could I think that he would like me like that," She thought miserably. She got up and started to walk away. But before she got very far, Luke went after her and grabbed her arm.

"Hey now, you caught me off guard and didn't give me a chance to answer." He said to her.

"Okay," Flora said. "What is your answer then?"

"I really like you Flora; sometimes I even think I like you more than I should. I just haven't had the guts to tell you that."

"Really?" Flora asked, her hopes soaring.

"Really, I do. What about you though? Do you like me in the same way?"

"I do, that's why I asked. It's also why I asked you to come here with me this afternoon. I needed a way to tell you." Flora finally admitted.

"I'm glad you did, I don't think I would have gotten the guts otherwise," Luke chuckled.

"Don't thank me, thank Claire. Without her advice, I would have gotten the guts to ask."

"I think we'll have to make her favourite for dinner than tonight, won't we?" Luke suggested.

"That, we will. But if we are going to make that, we'll have to go to the store and get some supplies."

"It'll definitely be worth it though. And we don't need to leave for another couple of hours," Luke said.

Flora smiled and grabbed his hand. Luke smiled back at her before leading her away from the rocks for a walk.

* * *

A while later Claire and the Professor were still hard at work, marking the tests. They were so focused that they didn't hear Luke and Flora coming back in or check the time at all. Finally, Claire had finished the sections that Hershel had given her. Bored, she got up and turned on some music. A sweet classical tune came on; satisfied, Claire sat down.

"So you're so bored you put on classical music?" Hershel asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep, I actually am that bored. Now, are you nearly done?"

The Professor chuckled, "I've only got a few more left, give me twenty minutes and I should be done."

"Alright," Claire agreed. "But as soon as you're done, we're doing something else, okay?"

"Alright," He chuckled.

Sure enough twenty minutes later the Professor had finished his work. "Alright, I'm done everything I need to do."

"Yay!" Claire said, bounding over to his desk. He chuckled, wondering where she got that energy. That and the music gave him a great idea. He stood up and walked around the desk.

"Would you do me the honour of this dance my lady?" He asked Claire, holding out his hand to her.

"Enchanted of course," She said taking his hand. He pulled her into position, settling his other hand on her waist, while she put her other hand on his shoulder. They spent the next little while twirling around the room.

After a while, a slightly faster song came on. Noting that, Hershel upped their speed a bit so that they were moving at a faster rate. This caught Claire off guard, and she wasn't able to turn fast enough. She ended up toppling over onto the couch, pulling Hershel down on top of her.

"Oh, are you okay my dear?" Hershel said as he went to get up off her.

"No, stay," She said, pulling him back down. "Trust me, I'm fine. And I like this position too much for you to get up."

"Oh you do, do you?" Hershel said teasingly. Then he leaned down and kissed her. The kiss quickly got heated as Claire reached up and pulled him further down, tangling her fingers in his hair. This, unfortunately for them, did not last for very long.

"Professor, Claire, dinner's-" Luke stopped cold as he saw the position that the Professor and Claire were in. They looked up quickly when they heard them, their cheeks flooding with colour. "Ready." Luke squeaked out. Then he turned and bolted from the room.

"Oh dear. I think we just scarred him for life." Claire said, as her cheeks returned to normal colour.

"I think you might be right. We better go downstairs before we scar him any further, and before dinner gets cold." Hershel replied, getting up from on top of her. They quickly straightened out their clothes and hair before heading out of the room and towards the stairs.

* * *

Meanwhile Luke had bolted into the kitchen where Flora was finishing putting cutlery out. She looked up, curious, "What happened to you?"

"The Professor, Claire, couch in his office, awkwardness, mehhh." Luke moaned as he sat down at his spot at the table. Flora couldn't help but laugh, poor Luke. She sat down at her spot. Soon the Professor and Claire joined them, doing their best not to look at anyone in the eye. Flora's need to laugh became even stronger.

"So; any particular reason for your choice of dinner tonight?" Claire asked Flora, her eyes twinkling. She was obviously trying to put the awkward situation behind everyone.

"Maybe," Flora said, doing her best not to look at Claire as she said it.

"Ha! Yes! I knew it! I told you it would work," Claire told Flora triumphed.

"Alright, alright, I admit it. You're advice worked. This is our way of thanking you." Flora told her. Luke just continued to sit there looking awkward.

"You're welcome," Claire said, her eyes twinkling. After this the table once again fell into an awkward silence as no one looked at anyone else, and didn't say anything. Finally the Professor decided the break the silence.

"As awkward and embarrassing as this is going to be, we do need to talk about what happened." Luke and Claire's cheeks turned red when they heard this.

"Do we absolutely have to?" Luke moaned. Claire nodded her head furiously, in agreement with Luke.

"I'm afraid we do," The Professor replied. Luke and Claire moaned in response.

"I don't mean 'the talk', I mean just about what happened. Luke does need to understand, and for that matter, Flora actually does too." Flora groaned when she heard that. The Professor sighed; this was not going to be easy.

"Well... How do I put this? Well when you are in a committed relationship with someone you really love, your feelings and boundaries change."

"You said this wasn't 'the talk', this sounds an awful lot like 'the talk'," Claire said through gritted teeth.

"It's not 'the talk', I assure you."

"Then why does it sound like 'the talk'?" Claire said getting more flustered by the second.

"Just let me continue," Hershel said. Claire relented, falling back in her chair, her head in her hands. "Now as I was saying; boundaries change, you will be willing to do more than you thought, and you will be willing to say things that you never thought that you would say. But never do anything that you are not sure about. Do you two understand?"

"Yes Professor, I understand," Luke said.

"I understand too," Flora agreed.

"Good, now do either of you have any questions?" The Professor said. Claire groaned when she heard him say that, she did not want them asking any questions about what they had done in the past.

"What does what I saw happen have to do with this?" Claire groaned internally, this is exactly what she didn't want Luke to ask.

"It's a good example as to how your boundaries will change."

"Must we talk about this?" Claire finally gave up and asked. "I mean seriously, what does this have to do with anything really?"

Hershel sighed, Claire was being worse about this than the kids. "Alright, you two are both dismissed," He said to Luke and Flora, who bolted from the table as soon as he said this.

Claire sank as far down in her chair as humanly possible, "Thank God that's over."

Hershel chuckled, moving his chair closer to hers. "Well, despite the fact that you were worse about this than the kids," He paused when Claire smacked him in the chest. "Hey now, you were worse about it. But as I was saying; despite that, I think you've earned yourself a bit of a reward."

Claire looked up, her face brightened up considerably, "What kind of reward do you mean?" She asked, curious.

"Well I can think of a few things," Hershel said with a mischievous smile.

Claire got up and started picking up dishes, "Well then let's get this mess cleaned up then, shall we?" She said, her eyes twinkling.

* * *

The next morning it was Luke and Flora's turn to make breakfast. When it was ready Flora decided to set it out while Luke went to go get the Professor and Claire who had not yet appeared downstairs. When he went up to their room and knocked, he got no answer, making him assume that they were still asleep. But when he opened the door he was in for quite the sight.

Clothes were strewn everywhere in the room. Claire and Hershel were still asleep, and Luke could see his bare chest and her bare back as they slept curled up next to each other, his arm around her, and hers laying over his torso. Luke bolted out of the room, shutting the door quietly and then bolting into the kitchen. Flora looked up curiously when he ran in.

"Why does it always have to be me?"

* * *

**3368 words later, and this is the longest chapter of anything I have ever written in my life. And all I have to say about it is; don't get used to it. As it is, I'm amazed I wrote this much for how simple the idea for this chapter started out. But I'm pleased by the way this turned out, especially the way I introduced the Luke/Flora relationship. From now on I will mention at the beginning of the chapter whether it is pre Luke/Flora or established Luke/Flora. So anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, but I'll never know if you don't review ;).**

**Oh, and one more thing; PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE LAST SPECTER IS SET TO COME OUT THIS FALL! As you can tell, I am VERY excited xD.**


	5. All is Fair in Snowball Wars

**So who out there doesn't hate me? *Hears crickets and sighs* That's what I thought. I am honestly so beyond sorry, I know I haven't updated in about 18 months and I have a feeling most people don't care what my excuse is. To be honest, my life is beyond insane. I'm pretty sure most of my teachers take pleasure in torturing us with as much work as they possibly can, and I'm fairly sure a couple of them are certifiably insane... And if that's not enough, a lot of familial issues came up which further distracted me. But overall I'm sorry, I didn't want it to be this long before I updated and I sure don't want this much time to elapse again but I can't guarantee that. I promise to do my best though!**

**And if you hadn't noticed I have changed my penname: I was formerly CullenGirl1918, now I'm .Night**

**Anyway, on with the chapter I have prepared for you. I was inspired by the fact that we actually have snow outside and decided to have our favourite Professor and his family participate in a snowball fight. As for the LukexFlora relationship, I'd say it's established at this point, but it may be able to be read the other way if you so desire. Enjoy!**

**Oh! And Happy New Year everyone!**

**Disclaimer: I own a copy of all 5 games and the Eternal Diva, but sadly the characters belong to Level5**

* * *

Hershel Layton's POV

It was early when I awoke, early enough that Claire wasn't up yet. I got up carefully as to not wake her, and then went down to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea. When I had made the tea, I went to sit in the chair by the window to drink it. I opened the curtains to quite the surprise.

Snow. It must have snowed quite a bit overnight as everything was completely white. And it was still snowing. I sighed, realizing that this meant there would be quite a bit of shoveling to be done. But that would have to wait until the others were up. I got up and went to make breakfast for everyone. They would be up soon enough and I knew that Luke would be impatient wanting to go outside and play in the snow.

Sure enough, as I turned off the last jet on the stove and moved everything over to the table I heard feet pounding on the stairs.

"3... 2... 1..." I said to myself, and right on cue Luke came flying into the kitchen.

"Professor! Professor! It's snowing, Professor! Can we go outside and play? Please, please, please?"

I chuckled, snow always made Luke act like a little kid. "Of course you can, but in a while. We need to wait for Claire and Flora to get up and for everyone to eat breakfast and get ready for the day. The shoveling also needs to be done before play time as well."

"Okay," Luke looked subdued for a moment, but perked right back up. "Can I go get Flora and Claire up then?" He looked so eager I couldn't say no.

"Alright, but gently, like a gentleman would."

"Aye Professor!" And with that he was off like a rocket to get the others up. I shook my head, chuckling and then went back to my tea waiting for everyone to come to the table.

A moment later Claire came down, rubbing her eyes obviously still half-asleep. "What on Earth has gotten into Luke?" She asked sitting down and yawning.

I laughed again and pulled her into my arms. "It's snowing outside love, and Luke loves snow. I hope he wasn't too rough waking you up."

"Don't worry," She said pulling back. "He was a perfect gentleman. He sure was nicer about waking me up than you were when we were in college and it started snowing." A sly smile stretched across her face.

I felt myself blush, "Yes, well, I-uh, hmm." I looked down at my tea, slightly embarrassed. Claire laughed again and patted my arm.

At that moment Luke and Flora walked into the kitchen; Flora looking quite like Claire had when she first came down and Luke still bouncing off walls. The two sat down at their normal chairs and we all helped ourselves to breakfast. It was quiet then for a while, or at least it was until Luke finished eating.

"Can we go outside yet? Please everyone?" Luke begged, complete with puppy-dog eyes. It took all my strength to not do the ungentlemanly thing and roll my eyes again since I now was in the presence of others.

"Now Luke, everyone else still needs to finish eating then we all need to go and dress warmly so that no one catches a cold." Claire smiled over at Luke; I could tell she was highly amused by Luke's reaction to snow.

"Alright then," Luke said, slumping back in his chair. We all laughed at his antics.

* * *

"Finally!" Luke cried. "We get to go outside!"

"Yes Luke, but you can't play right away. We need to shovel the drive and pavement first." I told him, pulling on my gloves and scarf.

"Okay, that's no problem. I just can't wait to go outside!" He ran out the door, leaving us laughing at his exuberance. We quickly followed him out.

"Alright everyone," Claire said. "Grab a shovel and get to work." We all followed her lead and grabbed a shovel.

* * *

With all of us working together, the shoveling was done quickly. I was just finishing off the last bit of snow when I felt something cold and wet hit the back of my neck. I reached back and touched my neck and my fingers came back covered in snow. A snowball, but who had thrown it? I looked around; Luke and Flora were too far away and busy in a conversation, but Claire appeared to be shoveling invisible snow whistling innocently.

I grabbed a handful of snow and fashioned it into a ball. So what if it wasn't the gentlemanly thing to do? I've never been one to pass up a good snowball fight, just ask Clark for conformation about that. Snowball formed, I turned around and aimed for Claire. I quickly released it and turned around to continue my shoveling.

I heard her shriek as the snowball hit her, presumably on the back of her head or neck like she did to me. I finished my shoveling and turned around to look at her. Sure enough, I could see snow in her hair as she glared at me. I tried my best not to laugh, but didn't exactly succeed. Luke and Flora came over to see what the matter was.

"Oh you are so on Hershel. You're not going to know what hit you, oh no you are not." She was playful yet quite angry at the same time. I will admit that it scared me a bit. "Luke you're coming with me, each team has fifteen minutes to build a fort starting now." She grabbed Luke's arm and dragged him off to go build their fort.

Flora looked at me. "We're about to get destroyed, aren't we?"

"Oh no we're not Flora, at least not if I have anything to say about it. Now come on, we only have fifteen minutes to build a fort that can last a few dozen snowballs." I grabbed her arm and led her over to a spot about twenty feet away from where Claire and Luke were building their fort, and then knelt down and started to build with Flora following my lead.

* * *

Approximately fifteen minutes, a fort, and a pile of snowballs later, Flora and I were ready for Claire and Luke's attack. Flora and I huddled together right up against the fort where snowballs would not be able to hit us to wait for the first ambush.

"So what do we do now?" Flora asked me, adjusting her hat so that it was fully covering her ears.

"Now we wait. And once the attacks start, we return them full force." She nodded, and started to make more snowballs. I followed her lead because the more we made now, the less we have to make while in battle.

It wasn't soon after that the first snowballs came flying over the wall.

"Quick Flora!" We started throwing snowballs towards Claire and Luke's fort as fast as we could. Unfortunately they were quicker. Soon Flora and I were huddled up against the wall of our fort again, watching as the snowballs flew over our heads.

"How long do you think it will take them to realize that we aren't throwing anything back?" Flora asked breathlessly. At that moment the snowballs stopped flying. "Well that answers that. What are we going to do now? We've only hit them a few times and I've lost track of how many times they've hit us."

"I think we need to ambush them from behind Flora." I was done playing nice, even if playing nice was the gentleman's thing to do.

"Really? How are we supposed to do that?" Flora looked up at me confused. I smiled and then leant down to whisper my plan to her. She smiled. "I love it."

* * *

Flora and I had managed to quietly make our way to the other side of the yard, using the trees as cover so that Claire and Luke wouldn't see us. Once behind them we hid behind a bush in order to spy on them and figure out the best possible moment to ambush them.

"Alright Luke, we very obviously have the upper hand. If we just keep up the speed at which we've been throwing the snowballs it shouldn't be long before the enemy gives up." Claire shot a glare over at mine and Flora's fort. Wow, she was really mad about that snowball I threw at her, I don't understand exactly why; she threw one at me first.

"But Claire," Luke whined. "My arms feel like they're about to fall off. And wait. Enemy? Are you okay?" Now Luke was confused and looked a bit concerned.

"All is fair in love and war Luke." Luke looked as though he had more questions to ask, but smartly decided to leave it at that. "Okay, now!" They started to throw snowballs again at alarming speeds.

I turned to Flora. "Okay, now!" I said to her and we ran towards Claire and Luke. Flora tackled Luke, American Football style and sent them both flying into the snow Luke shrieking in surprise. Claire looked over to them and made to go help Luke except I grabbed her around the waist and lifted her clean off her feet.

"Hershel put me down!" She shrieked at me, kicking and struggling to get down and out of my arms.

I smirked. "Alright."

She recognized the look in my eyes. "Hershel, I swear to God. If you- Ahhhhh!" She screamed as I tossed her into the fort, jumping after her so that I was on top of her. "Hershel you are such a..." She paused, trying to find the right word as she squirmed beneath me.

I chuckled. "Well sweetheart, I believe Flora and I have won." I looked over at Luke and Flora who were both lying in the snow laughing their heads off, and then back to Claire who had ceased her squirming.

"Yes, I believe you have. Though I have to admit; if this is what losing is like, I'll have to lose more often." She lifted her head off the ground and kissed me gently. I smiled down at her and we heard gagging noises.

We looked over to Luke and Flora to see them looking around innocently. I looked back to Claire and gave her my 'are you thinking what I'm thinking?' look, she nodded. We discreetly made a couple of snowballs and threw them at Luke and Flora, landing on their faces. They sat up quickly and wiped the snow off of their faces.

"What was that for?" Luke asked us, Flora just glared.

"Next time think before you gag, alright?" I answered, giving him a look. He looked back down at the snowy ground.

"Alright everyone, I think it's about time we all went inside to warm up. How does a cup of tea sound to everyone?"

"Sounds perfect my dear," I said getting up then offering a hand to Claire to help her up.

"Of course it sounds perfect to you," She said. "You addict." Luke and Flora laughed and Claire wrapped an arm around me as we walked back inside. "Don't worry; you may be an addict, but you're my addict and that's all that matters."

* * *

**So what did everyone think? Loved it? Hated it? Hate me for not updating sooner? Let me know how you feel... That sounds WAY too much like something a psychiatrist would say. How about leave me a review? Yes, that sounds better.**

**And I will not be forgetting my promise! Hopefully you'll get another chapter out of me before another 18 months elapses :)**

**Best wishes for everyone for 2013!**


	6. Emmy?

**So guess what, I'm back before another 18 months has elapsed! And I am now making this even more AU, because if you have looked up spoilers, you know why Emmy left. If you haven't looked up spoilers, I seriously suggest that you keep it that way. Established LukexFlora for the fun of it.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Professor Layton, what was revealed about Emmy in the last game would have been completely different.**

* * *

Emmy's POV

I was nervous.

There was no denying that fact, it had been years since I had seen the Professor and Luke. Not since I left my job as his assistant.

I hadn't even contacted them since then.

It wasn't that I didn't want to, but I knew if I did I would be too tempted to go back and join in on his adventures again, I've missed them like you wouldn't believe. I had to move on though, if I didn't things would have ended badly.

I climbed the stairs to the Professor's home, and stood there for several seconds before taking a deep breath and knocking on the door. A moment passed before I woman that I didn't recognize opened the door. I have to admit, I was slightly taken aback.

"Hello," she said. "May I help you?"

"Umm," Who was she? "Yes, is Professor Layton home?"

"Yes he is," She smiled then looked over her shoulder. "Hershel! There's someone at the door for you!" She turned back to me. "I don't believe I've seen you before. What's your name?"

Before I could respond I heard a voice that I hadn't heard in years. "Emmy?" I looked up to see the Professor on the stairs. "Emmy Altava?"

I smiled weakly, "Hello Professor Layton, it's been a while hasn't it?"

* * *

The air in the living room felt thick enough to be cut with a knife. I sat quietly, holding my teacup between my hands waiting for the interrogation to begin.

"_Emmy!" I looked up to see Luke bounding down the hall, a young girl maybe two or three years older than him standing behind him. He threw his arms around me; I chuckled and hugged him back._

"_Well hello there, assistant number two."_

"_Hey, that's apprentice number one, remember?" He laughed, before becoming serious. "Where have you been these past few years? You never contacted us after you left."_

"_Yes," The Professor said. "I believe there's quite a bit for us to catch up on."_

And that was how we had ended up here. I had hoped that things wouldn't end up this way. I looked over to Luke who, despite being so ecstatic earlier, was looking slightly downcast. The girl next to him, Flora was her name, had an arm around his shoulders. I tore my eyes away from them over to the Professor, who was looking right back at me, disappointment evident in his eyes. I really couldn't blame him. The woman who had answered the door, Claire, was sitting next to him apparently unsure of what to do.

"Why Emmy?" The hurt in the Professor's voice was mirrored by Luke's eyes. "You left without so much as an explanation and then never contacted us. Why do all that only to show up on our doorstep years later? If you needed to be on your own for a while, why not just say so?"

I looked down, "I wish it were that simple."

"Then what happened? Please Emmy, tell us." The look in Luke's eyes was unbearable. I could not believe how much pain I had caused them with my sudden departure.

I took a deep breath. "When I was still working as your assistant Professor, I started to receive mysterious notes. Oftentimes they would be complimenting us on what we had done on our various adventures, sometimes they would just comment on what we had done on a day-to-day basis. I didn't think much of it to begin with; I figured that if this person made their self known I could just deal with them and move on. But then the tone of the notes began to change." I shuddered as I remembered the vile words that had been sent to me through these notes.

"Change how?" The Professor asked the disappointment now replaced with concern. Claire next to him looked worried.

"They became... How do I put this? Umm, they became more threatening. Rather than the stalkerish tone they had taken on before that had said one person, they became threats and appeared to be sent by multiple people. They said I had to leave, or watch you two die." I choked back a sob as I remembered the terrible words.

"Oh Emmy, why didn't you tell us? We could have helped you; you didn't have to go through this on your own."

"Yeah Emmy," Luke said. "We were in everything together, remember?"

"I couldn't risk it. If either of you had gotten hurt, or worse, because of me, I'd never be able to forgive myself." I shook my head and fought back tears. "No, I knew I had to do this on my own. That's why I vanished without an explanation. I needed you to stay in the dark about it while I defeated them, I couldn't risk you finding out. They would have just hurt you." I felt the tears start to run down my cheeks.

"Oh, Emmy," The Professor moved to the seat next to me on the couch and pulled me into his arms as I cried. "Everything's okay now, it's all over." He continued to hold me until I calmed down.

"I'm so sorry," I said. "I wish I hadn't had to do what I did, leave and not contact you for years. But honestly; I'd make the same choice all over again with no regrets." And I would, I had to do that to protect them. They were the closest people I had to family.

"Of course you would," I looked up in surprise as Claire spoke. "I would have made the same choice had I been in your shoes. No one blames you, right Hershel?"

"Of course no one does," His words were echoed by the children. "We're just glad to have you back."

* * *

"Alright," Claire said after a while. "Enough of all this heavy stuff, it's nearly dinnertime. Emmy, you will be having dinner with us, and I will not hear otherwise."

"Oh, that's not necessary; I really don't want to be a bother." How was she so accepting of me this quickly?

"Nonsense, it's no bother at all. Now I'm going to go get it started." With that she got up and left the room.

"Well I guess that answers that," the Professor looked at me. "Seriously Emmy, it's all water under the bridge now. Life can go back to normal. Now if you all will excuse me, I have papers that need grading." He too, got up and left the room.

I looked at Luke and Flora whose heads were close together as they appeared to confer silently. I smiled; time to prove things were really back to normal. "So Luke," I smiled at him mischievously. "How long has this been going on?"

"How long has what – I don't know what you're talking about." He looked around innocently while Flora and I laughed.

"Oh really? Well then, I guess I'm gonna have to play matchmaker for you. I seem to recall a few lovely girls who took a liking to you on our adventures." I sent a wink Flora's way and she giggled.

"What? No! Okay fine, you win." He tried to look cross with me, without much success. "This has been going on a couple of months now." Luke smiled at Flora, taking her hand.

"Aww, how sweet. Luke hasn't been giving you any trouble, has he Flora?" I smirked at Luke's expression.

"Only a bit," Luke looked at her incredulously. "Oh, I'm only kidding Luke. He's been a perfect gentleman."

"Good to hear. Let me know if he ever isn't, I'll take care of him for you." I winked at Luke as Flora laughed.

"Will do."

"Good, now I'm going to leave you two lovebirds alone and see if Claire could use a hand with dinner." I got up and walked towards the kitchen, where I found Claire stirring something on the stove. "Anything I could help you with Claire?" I asked her.

She chuckled, "Emmy, you're our guest; you're not required to help out with anything."

"I know, I guess I can't help but feel like I'm imposing a bit. It really has been years since I've spoken to either the Professor or Luke." I sighed, "I suppose I just don't quite believe that you're all so accepting of me so quickly." I honestly didn't. I was grateful for it, but I was still slightly confused.

"We're all accepting because you did nothing wrong. I wasn't joking when I said that I would do the same thing if I were in your position. Listen, no one's mad or upset with you, they're just happy to have you back, understand?"

I nodded. I truly did understand now. "Now then, it's been what feels like forever since I've been able to have a real girl talk with someone. So tell me, how long have you and the Professor known each other?" I gave her my best questioning look.

Claire burst into laughter. "Oh my," She said after a moment. "That's actually a hard one to answer. Truth is neither of us really knows what to say about that one."

"How does that work? If you don't mind my asking that is."

"We were separated for what was ten years for him, only a couple of months for me. You see, I was involved in the building of a time machine at the University, and well I ended up being the test subject for its first trial."

"Wait, I think I heard about that. Didn't the machine explode?"

"Well yes, it did. However before it exploded, it worked. I was sent ten years into the future, and well, I was lucky and I got to stay here." She smiled, probably remembering the day that they were reunited.

"That almost seems like one of those cheesy romance novels; come hell or high water, the main character is reunited with their true love." I smiled, how incredible for them. Hopefully someday I would be able to find my Prince Charming.

She laughed again and bent down to pull something out of the oven. "How about you? Anyone special in your life?"

"Unfortunately no. With what I've been doing these past few years there really hasn't been the time or the opportunity to meet anyone." I sighed; it had been a lonely few years.

"Well never fear; you're young, pretty, athletic, and from what Hershel has told me about you, smart as a whip. You'll find someone who appreciates all that in no time."

"Wait, he's told you about me before?"

"Of course he has silly, him and Luke both. They missed their good friend."

"Wow, I never thought that they would miss me that much."

"They sure did, they're so glad to see you. Actually, they're not the only ones. I have to admit, it will be great to have another adult female around. Flora's great, but she is still just a teenager and she has friends of her own."

I laughed, "The feeling is mutual. We'll have to go out sometime soon."

"Oh yes we will. Now, do you mind going and getting the others? Dinner's ready." She started to pull plates out of the cabinet.

* * *

"What do you plan to do now that you're back in London?" The Professor looked up from his tea. We had finished dinner a while ago and were now sitting at the table having tea and talking about anything and everything.

I smiled, "Well I've heard that there's a certain professor who still can't seem to keep things straight and could do with a little help." I looked up at him, "That is, if he'll accept his old assistant again."

"Of course you can have your job back Emmy. I've really missed your help around the office; it has been, well, a sort of disaster since you left."

I laughed, "Some things will never change, will they Professor?"

"When it comes to his office, they don't," Claire said. "I've tried organizing it for him, Rosa's tried organizing it for him, but it always seems to be a disaster again only hours later."

The Professor's cheeks flushed with embarrassment and we all started laughing. It was great to be back where I belonged.

* * *

**Well there's the chapter! I hope I did Emmy justice, I know she seems almost overly confident in the games, but coming back to people that you had left years before has got to be difficult even for someone as strong as her. Hopefully we'll see plenty of Emmy in chapters to come; I like the idea of her and Claire being close friends so I plan to work with that. Other than that, I still wholeheartedly do not like what they did with Emmy in the final game at this point in time, but who knows? Maybe my opinion will change once I actually play the game. Who knows when that will be though...**

** Anyway, let me know what you think through a review pretty please? I'll give you cookies that I stole from the dark side, they have the BEST cookies.**


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